Improvement in portable railways



UNITED' STATES PATENT OFFICE. 1

,n runononn nooTsMAnN, or roMrKi'nsviLLE, Nnwlronu.

IMPROVEMENTVIN PORTABLE RAILWAYS.

Specification forming Tait oi" Leiters Patent No. [12.893, dated March 21, 1671.

To @ZZ whom it mrtg/concern:

Be it known that l, Tnnononn BooTsMANN, of Tompkinsville, in the county of- Richmond and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Portable Railroads; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which drawings- Figure 1 represents a sectional side view of this invention. Fig. 2 is a plan or top view ofthe same. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same. Fig. 4 is an end view of one part of the lock used for connecting the several sections of my portable railroad. Fig. 5 is asimilar view of the other part of the lock. Fig. 6

is a plan or top view of both parts of the lock.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to a portable railroad 5 and it consists of locks which serve to imite the sections at their ends, which are composed of inclined noses and latches. so that when one section is pushed against the other the noses will open the latches automatically, and after Y the sections are locked the noses of one sec- Ation will straddle the end of the adjoining secsuch a manner that in putting down the railroad on the ground cach section is supported at three points only, and it can therefore be easily brought in such a position that its endsv will lie firmly on the ground, and the locks which serve to secure the sections together'are not liable to become broken. Between the side rails of each section is .fastened a board, which serves the triple purpose of strength-vening its section, of forming a path for the person pushing the car, and of acting as a safety-rail to prevent the cars from tipping over, said cars being provided for this purpose with safety-rollers catching beneath the edges of the central board. f

In the drawings, the letter A designates a straight section of my portable railroad, and the letter B a curved section. Each of these sections is composed of two side rails, c, which are connected at their ends and in the middle by cross-ties b, forming feet which project beneath the side rails, so that when a section is put down on the ground it is supported at three points only, and it can be readily adl justed so that it will lie firmly on the ground. If the side rails are simply connected by screwrods or cross-ties the lower edges of which are flush with the under surfaces of the side rails', and a, section is laid down on the ground, it is liable to rock, and even if it is`blocked up its ends are liable to spring up and down by the weight of the cars, and the locks which serveA to unite the adjoining sections are subject to being broken. By providing each section with. supporting-feet this difficulty is easily avoided, and my sections can be readily adj usted on the most unfavorable ground, so that their ends are iirmly supported and the locks are not liable to get out of order. rlhe crossties b are formed with projections d in their middle, which serve to support the centralV boards, c. These boards serve to strengthen their sections, and they also form a path for the persons pushing the carsyand, furthermore, they act as safety-rails, whereby the cars are prevented from tipping over, my cars being provided with safety-rollers e, which.

catch under the edges of the central boards, as shown in the drawings. To allow these rollers to pass, the projections el of the crossties are made somewhat narrower than the boards c.

The cars used ou a portable railroad are generally dumpingcars, and if the railroad is constructed without my safety-boards and the contents ofthe car are dumped said car is liable to tip over, which causes much inconvenience andloss of time; and, furthermore, in running down a steep grade or in turning a short curve the cars lon a road without my safety-boards are liable to run off the track, and it requires much time to replace the same. All these difficulties are avoided by my improved track.

'The locks whichserve to secure the adjoinpushed together the noses will raise the latches automatically, and after the ends of the secg, constructedas described, in combination l tions have closed up the latches drop down with each other and the sections of a portable behind the noses, and the two sections are railroad.

firmly locked together. The ends of the noses straddle the ends of the adjoining section and prevent a lateral displacement of the same.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is*u The inclined proj eeting noses f and latches This specication signed by me this 2d day of July, 1870. T. BOOTSMANN. l

Witnesses: W. HAUFF,

E. F. KASTENHUBER. 

